The draft began on the October 11 episode of Friday Night SmackDown (in Paradise, Nevada) and concluded on the October 14 episode of Monday Night Raw (in Denver, Colorado), with SmackDown airing on Fox and Raw on the USA Network.

With SmackDown's move to Fox in October and Raw remaining on the USA Network (part of Comcast's NBCUniversal), WWE decided to hold a second draft for 2019 to definitively split the two brands.

[7] The picks were presented by personalities associated with Fox Sports and NBCUniversal properties, including Fox MLB analyst Alex Rodriguez, Saturday Night Live's Michael Che and Colin Jost (who both performed in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 35 earlier in 2019), Mr.

Robot's Christian Slater, Fox NFL lead commentators Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, Mad Money host Jim Cramer, Fox MLB analysts Kevin Burkhardt and Frank Thomas, Fox NFL Sunday's Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long, Michael Strahan, Jimmy Johnson, and Tony Gonzalez, NFL analysts Ronde Barber, Charles Davis, Chris Spielman, and Daryl Johnston, Fox NFL Kickoff's Charissa Thompson, Michael Vick, and Peter Schrager, Big Noon Kickoff's Rob Stone (a former WWE 24/7 Champion), Brady Quinn, Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart, and Urban Meyer, Fox College Football analyst Joel Klatt, Dulé Hill from USA's Psych and Suits, James Roday from Psych, Marcus Lemonis from CNBC's The Profit, Margaret Josephs and Melissa Gorga from Bravo's The Real Housewives of New Jersey, Rodney Harrison and Chris Simms from NBC's Football Night in America, and Rebecca Lowe, Robbie Mustoe, and Kyle Martino from Premier League Live.

Undrafted wrestlers (those not selected on the shows or announced via WWE.com) immediately became free agents and could sign with the brand of their choosing.

WWE's Chief Brand Officer (CBO) Stephanie McMahon announced the draft picks for each round.

[16] Following Night 2 on the premiere episode of Backstage on October 15, WWE's Chief Operating Officer (COO) Triple H announced a trade between Raw and SmackDown.

Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross were traded to SmackDown in exchange for future draft pick considerations.

Several wrestlers were made free agents due to injury, inactivity, or simply not being drafted despite being an active member of the rosters.

At the event, although the two had been drafted to separate brands, Raw draftee Seth Rollins defended the Universal Championship against SmackDown draftee "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt in a falls count anywhere match that could not be stopped for any reason; this was a rematch from Hell in a Cell, which was a Hell in a Cell match that ended by referee stoppage.

Heyman then declared that they were quitting SmackDown and transferring to Raw with the WWE Championship in order for Lesnar to seek revenge against Mysterio;[33] a No Holds Barred match between the two was subsequently scheduled for Survivor Series.

These included WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle, Rusev, the aforementioned Drake Maverick, Zack Ryder, Curt Hawkins, Karl Anderson, Luke Gallows, Heath Slater, Eric Young, Rowan, Sarah Logan, No Way Jose, Mike Chioda, Mike Kanellis, Maria Kanellis, EC3, Aiden English, Lio Rush, The Colóns (Primo and Epico),[29] Curtis Axel,[48] and Cain Velasquez,[49] as well as many other behind-the-scenes employees.

In May 2020, WWE initiated the Brand-to-Brand Invitation, in which wrestlers are allowed to appear and wrestle on an opposing brand "four times a year", or once every quarter (this excludes an appearance to set up the match, as seen with the respective Raw and SmackDown tag team champions to set up their interbrand match for the September 14, 2020, episode of Raw).